The technology of the present disclosure relates to a toner container and an image forming apparatus provided with the toner container.
An image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or the like is provided with, e.g., a toner container mounted to an apparatus body. An image forming unit including, e.g., a developing unit, is installed in the apparatus body.
The toner container includes a housing that retains a toner as a developing agent. The housing is usually made of a resin or the like. A toner supply unit for supplying the toner to the developing unit of the apparatus body is installed in the housing. A screw unit for conveying the toner to the toner supply unit and a stirring mechanism are installed within the housing.
The toner retained within the housing is stirred by the stirring mechanism and is conveyed to the screw unit. The toner conveyed to the screw unit is conveyed to the toner supply unit by the rotating screw unit. Then, the toner is supplied from the toner supply unit to the developing unit existing outside the housing.
The toner container is removably mounted to the apparatus body. If the toner held within the toner container is reduced and used up by the operation of the image forming apparatus, the used toner container is removed from the apparatus body. Thereafter, a new toner container filled with a toner is mounted to the apparatus body. This enables the image forming apparatus to continuously perform an image forming operation.